Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Underground to Canada

As a writer, my A to Z challenge is going to be about books, characters, TV shows and movies that have impacted me somehow. Enjoy! Be sure to check out Lee’s blog to find more bloggers taking on this challenge!

Barbara Smucker wrote this fabulous book. This is another one I read aloud frequently to my students. If they read it themselves, they usually don’t have the background knowledge required to love the book. When I read it, we can discuss as we go – and, boy!, do we discuss. They find the whole situation incomprehensible. How could people think they could own people? How could they treat people like that? How could they be so cruel? How could they...

This is another book where I have kids cheering at some points and with tears in their eyes at others. Powerful emotions. If the kids in my classes are any indication, we’ll never have to worry about this horrific chapter of human history being repeated. Trust me, there is wonderful hope for the future.

I just read Jane Smiley's The All True Adventures of Lidie Newton which takes place in Kansas before it became a state with the confrontations between Missouri (a slave state) and the abolistionists of Kansas who want it to be a free state. It is incomprehensible, that people could "own" people,like their horses and their dogs, sell their babies and send "catchers" after them should they dare to escape. It's a terrible part of our history I fear we'll never get over.

Yvonne - it's such an overwhelming period of history - absolutely unbelievable. But it happened. I really hope continuing to read about it and talk about it will ensure nothing like this happens ever again!

I've never read this book! I love stories that inspire discussion. I read a lot of historical books about the Vietnam War to get a sense of what my family went through, and it's so overwhelming in the best of ways.

I had a literature teacher like you, who read books aloud and let us discuss; she gave us the insight our youth denied us and she made a big impact on my life. She is one of the reasons I love books so much and I'm sure you're making a big difference in those kids live's too.

The acreage where I work used to be part of the Underground Railroad (St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind.) We've had re-enactments in previous years but not for the last few. I'll check out your book. Thanks for the recommendation! If you get a chance, visit my blog at www.dianeweidenbenner.com Happy blogging!